The Pokonomist Chapter 4: The Mountain: Ascending, a pokémon fanfic

AUTHORS NOTE:

Wooh! wow, this was something of a challenge. im starting to truly understand how difficult writing can be, and my life events have a major impact on my consistancy, so that one paragraph may have been written tuesday by a content me and the next written thursday by Exasperated, drowning in discontent me. Still, i feel like this is a milestone. four chapters is an accomplishment, and at over twenty thousand words this story is now something real. In the future, i look forward to creating and cultivating this into something i can truly be proud of. In the meantime, ive got a long ways to go, but i feel pretty confidant. Still, i could use your support, and taking just two minutes to write a review does wonders for me. To all of those so far who have reviewed, thank you, you truly make this worthwhile. To all of those who are simply reading this story, i understand that, too, and it certainly makes me happy just knowing this is being read, though i hope you will someday leave a review. So, without further ado, i present the forth chapter of THE POKONOMIST, and i hope you all enjoy it.

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The gentle morning sun rays stirred Ra'uf, and it took him a moment to gather his bearings and realize why he was sleeping in a small stone enclave rather than that years dorm. When the knowledge returned, he jolted out of bed, paranoia striking his mind and shattering the ease he had felt upon waking. Ra'uf cast his eyes suspiciously around the cave, disregarding the apparent peace of his surroundings and searching wildly for an intruding Pokemon, his heart beat the only noise apparent to him. Moments passed, and yet nothing jumped from the shadows or revealed itself to his careful scrutiny, and the skeptical student was forced to accept that he was entirely alone and safe in his temporary camp.

Soothed, Ra'uf sighed deeply and relaxed back into a laying position. He had bolted upright in his fear, but the calm of his surroundings along with the warming glow of his camp fire worked to lull him. His pulse returned to a normal rate, and the thick haze of sudden terror receded enough for sensible thoughts to begin flowing through his mind.

So he had survived his first night in the wild, he mused. He had escaped all of the initial dangers waiting to tear his life from him, and effectively employed five years of rigorous training. This morning was a success, simply because he was still alive and for no other more intricate reason. It was fascinating to him, how simple was the world that he had climbed down from the helicopter into.

The area he was in was the home of only two dangerous types of Pokemon, the Ice and Ghost type, and the later was rare and less likely to be any sort of danger. Simple trinkets and a constant moderation of his feelings, which many different ghost types fed off of, would keep him safe from the mischievous ghouls. In fact, Ra'uf almost hoped that he might encounter one, as his research had assured him that all ghost types held a deadly fear of abandoned or dismembered body parts, which included much less gory items such as feathers and abandoned snake skins.

In response, Ra'uf had fashioned a scarecrow composed of both feathers and snake skins and crowned with a rather crude sketch of a Raticate's head. The result was a rather comical looking length of wood that Ra'uf felt would be fun to brandish angrily at any troublesome specters unlucky enough to choose him as a victim. Certain books had also suggested adding sound effects to the makeshift scarecrow, such as screaming and hissing. The idea of defending himself in such a way put the previously frightening prospect of warding off Ghosts into a rather more pleasant perspective. Just thinking about it lightened Ra'uf's mood, and he found himself grinning slightly as the unpleasant pounding in his chest began to fade.

The Ice types, unfortunately, were much more trouble. Ghost types were generally pure Ghost, which limited them to a single predictable habitat that Ra'uf had defined as dark and gloomy. The ice types, however, branched into grass, water, psychic, dark, ground, flying, and even ghost type sub classes. The snow covered forests, ice coated rivers, dark caves and cliffs, and even the barren alpine tundras ahead of him would be inhabited by some variation of the Ice type. Ra'ufs current spot at the base of the mountain put him in danger from almost every sort on the mountain, and he had reacted by safeguarding himself in the most general way possible. Ice types were dependent upon colder environments, and shunned strong heat sources from miles away, so Ra'uf had built a blazing fire in the sheltered enclave that he had chanced upon after hours of searching.

The enclave was nothing more than a deep dent in the front of the mountain that barely qualified as a cave, but Ra'uf had nonetheless been grateful for the added shelter and comfort it provided, as well as the time it saved. Without it, he would have been forced to do as would be the case in future nights, and spend a tiring deal of time digging into the snow for shelter. He had been unexpectedly lucky with the discovery.

Thinking of future nights reminded Ra'uf that such nights would be fruitless unless he held to a strictly rigorous travel schedule that allowed for absolutely no lazing about. Very much as he was doing now.

Sighing, Ra'uf heaved himself back into a sitting position and gave the small cave another quick, suspicious glance before standing up and yawning. Several layers of clothing and a thick fleece sweater slid off him at the movement, and the freezing winds of the area bit at his newly uncovered form, reminding him of the extreme cold that he had battled with the previous night. Route four, where he was currently situated, was renowned for its arctic climate, the main feature of the route which made it so attractive to its resident Ice types. Shivering in the morning winds, Ra'uf glanced at the overcast skies and tried to asses the time of day. It was cloudy and dark, and though the sun was still hidden light was beginning to seep through the thick layer of overcast. Ra'uf decided on sometime between six and seven in the morning.

Though the clothing before him offered instant relief from the cold, Ra'uf settled on a more indirect method of warming up that though initially a pain would be useful once he got to hiking. Clearing a small space in the camp, Ra'uf launched himself into a series of stretches that he was, unfortunately, very familiar with. The activity would loosen him up for the day ahead, as well as eventually forcing his body to warm itself up, but Ra'uf found it extremely difficult to focus on these positive aspects and far easier to complain bitterly about his sharp discomfort. Immense relief flowed through him when, after twenty terrible minutes, he finished, and the feeling accompanied him as he forced his sweaty and irritable self to begin packing camp.

Reaching his sleeping bag first, Ra'uf lifted several layers of the clothing he had slept in off of the ground and slid them over his head. It was unhygienic, Ra'uf knew, to both sleep in and wear the clothing, but with his life on the line Ra'uf felt cleanliness could take a back seat among his concerns. There was no time to worry about such things in the wild. Instead, Ra'uf pondered briefly whether to wear his fleece sweater as his first or final layer. When tucked into his pants, so as to form a tight seal, the fleece would provide necessary insulation that would be more effective as the outermost layer as well as covering his other clothing with a water proof layer. On the other hand, to wear it on the inside would isolate his sweat and in so trap in his scent. The question was whether health or Pokemon dynamics would be more important, and in this case Ra'uf decided on health. Wet clothing was terrible at preserving heat, and in the week to come the cold would be just as terrible a threat as Pokemon.

Fully dressed, Ra'uf packed away the scattered contents of his tent, collecting the leftover wrapper of the single instant meal that had been granted to him. In the future, he would have to scavenge for food, and Ra'uf resolved to keep a look out for anything edible during his travel. There was a vast array of plant life in the area, but Ra'uf would only go out of his way for one tree in particular, a breed of pine that could provide a plentiful ration of edible nuts. Failing to find one would force Ra'uf to spend hours of precious time stocking up on less filling alternatives, and the wasted time was something that he hoped to avoid.

When he finished packing, Ra'uf hesitantly turned to the still faintly burning bonfire. By adding logs of modulated dampness and size to the pile, Ra'uf had managed to provide enough fuel to sustain it through the night. Now, only several weak flames had managed to survive, fluttering faintly amongst a sea of ashes. Ra'uf felt fear creeping back into his system as he stared at the weak embers. The fire was his only ward against the Ice types, and he felt reluctant to either smother or depart from it, and yet reason resonated clearly through his mind. As much as he desired the added protection, to take it with him would be to reveal his presence to ever heat sensitive Pokemon for miles, and when they realized it was a moving source they would assume a fire Pokemon had invaded their mountain. Either he would be ambushed by an Ice type powerful enough that it could match a fire type, and therefore more than capable of dealing with himself, or a sudden gust of wind would blow out the flame, and the previously shying monsters would approach from every angle. He was safer without such risks.

Sighing, Ra'uf silenced his reluctance and smothered the tiny flame with his boot. A cloud of dust rose from the impact, but the flames disappeared. Breathing in a shaky breath, Ra'uf lifted his boot and allowed himself the single precaution he could take. Ducking down next to the ashes, he scooped a handful of the dead material out and stared at it for a second, watching the fine material stream out from around his hand, before bringing it swiftly up to the fleece coat and splashing it there. Little of it stuck, but Ra'uf brought more handfuls from the dead fire and rubbed it against the jacket. The action seemed conclusive, in a way, and Ra'uf fell into a contemplative silence. Snow had begun to fall gently down from the twilight sky, and the cave he had slept in now glowed with emptiness, a soft aura that seemed to expel him from its midst. He had taken up refuge in the cave and enjoyed the temporary peace it provided, but it was time now for him to move on. On, to harder things.

Ra'uf stored a final handful of the ashes into a pocket in his fleece sweater and then brushed the remaining material free from his hands. Standing up, he drew in a deep breath, before moving to the entrance. Glancing a final time at the cave behind him, Ra'uf saw it again as it had first appeared to him; Invitingly safe, a convenient haven for his endangered life. Then, he turned and left, circling around to face the steep mountain side above. Reaching back, he grasped the ice pick upon his back and struck it into the angled mountain, using it as a lever to begin his ascent.

Latif grinned happily around him, taking in the sight of dead, twisted trees and lack of life for miles and marking them as good omens. It was undoubtedly a path of destruction, but it was the sort of destruction that Shuppets caused, and that meant good things for himself. If he followed the trail of desolation to its core, he would find his starter and succeed in his ultimate goal of becoming a trainer. He had only just begun, but already he could practically taste his fast approaching finish, and it had him near salivating in his eagerness. So soon, and he would graduate, concluding five years of painful schooling and torturous isolation! He would be rid of the others, could escape the range of Mr. Gershom's mocking laughter, would break from his waiting and begin the life he had anticipated for years! He would be his own free soul. The future seemed bright, shining, and most gloriously of all, close. As if the next corner hid it from him.

Elated, he continued on his way, noting how lucky he was that the surrounding area was so devoid of life. There were only two types in the area, as he knew, and of them the Ice type was nowhere to be seen. He was beginning to figure that the type would not trouble him at all as he advanced, which left him to worry about the Ghost type. The thoughts that came up at that point could hardly be considered worrying, however. An approaching Ghost type might turn out to in fact be a Shuppet, which he could then follow directly to its nest and thus save himself an unpredictable number of hours searching. Perhaps days.

And if not, then it was a simple enough matter to defend himself from an alternate encounter. Before he had left, he had constructed the silliest looking scarecrow out of fallen feathers and the limbs of a teddy bear. The top of the stick was capped with the fake, disproportional green head of one of the countries media heroes, Kerly the frog. At the age of eleven, he had looked forward to the frogs occasional television showing and treasured the stuffed replica that he had ruined for the head, but he had stopped enjoying the program some years before. Brandishing the head at an attacking ghost would be the most fun he had with the action figure since his third year of schooling, and he thoroughly looked forward to the occasion. Some books had even suggested such gestures as hissing and stomping. Latif thought he might try that.

Grin broadening at the thought, Latif pulled the amusing stick from its place on his back and flourished it theatrically through the air. Bringing it down, Latif strung it across his shoulder in an exaggerated gesture and continued at a carefree pace, passing the scores of dead trees undaunted and ignoring the haunted silence. Staring around, the thought came unbidden to his mind that perhaps what he hoped to accomplish was not so far fetched after all. Bloody, difficult, and still so very far in the future, but closer now than it had ever been. More real, in that instant, than it had ever been. Just one week, and he would either open the door to a promising future or walk through into a chasm of consuming darkness, the only escape from which would be the escape from life. It seemed a disheartening thought, but instead inspired confidence in him. From where he stood, it seemed the door was already wide open, and that what shined from it was unmistakably the bright glow of Pokemon training.

Staring around at the still landscape, Latif noted that it was surprisingly smooth walking to such a destination. Hopefully, it would remain that way. But if not, he had his bear body and frog head stick to protect him. Latif patted the trusty pole and continued on his way, both his smile and his confidence never faltering. Even in the dark corners of his consciousness, whispers of caution failed to form.

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Ra'uf shivered at the cold winds lashing at his back and took a quick break from his climbing. Breathing heavily, he stared around him, curiously assessing his progress and turning forward disheartened. It was nine in the morning now, from what he could tell, and the pace he had been traveling at had only carried him about a hundred feet closer to the summit. Sighing, he stared forward into the mountain, his eyes blank with thought and squinting from the cold. His limbs throbbed with the effort of climbing, but the pain was as of yet mild, and he knew that his body was strong enough to manage the next ten hours of constant use that was necessary to put the ground he needed that day behind him.

It was only the first day of his week, but he could already feel himself straining against his time limit, pressured to work through miles before its tight constrains forever robbed him of his future. He had little time allowed to him, great distances to cover, and harsh terrain to hinder him. Every second pressed him, and elicited a slight ripple of panic that pooled in his chest and trickled to his limbs, urging them into action

His current speed was good, as he was exceptionally safe from Pokemon while climbing the mountainside. Only bird Pokemon made their nests on such steep inclines, and the only part flying type that was also of the Ice type was an exceptionally dopey species known as Delibird. Relatively unintelligent, the Pokemon would be vicious in confrontation, and despite being comparatively weak would be more than a match for himself. Ra'uf was not too worried about the Pokemon, though. During the daytime, most flying types spent their time foraging or hunting, and the chance of encountering a nest was far more likely than running into its resident Delibird. It was best to avoid the nests anyway, as Ra'uf did not wish to risk revealing his distinguished human scent so directly to a Pokemon.

The nests themselves were large messes of mud and wood that stuck out brilliantly from their surroundings. Safe on their mountainside, stealth was something that the Delibirds had no need to bother with, and as a result Ra'uf could advance without fear of tripping across some sort of obscure danger. He had passed only a single nest so far, but as he reached higher altitudes he would find larger congregations of the cliff side homes. Along with the nests and his own undisguised passage, Ra'uf felt uncomfortably exposed, a feeling on multiple occasions had him resisting the urge to look behind him and assure that he was still alone.

Choosing to look up now, Ra'uf felt his current progress further belittled in seeing the miles of mountain still before him. Sighing, He forced himself to banish all negative thoughts and silence his mind altogether. Closing his eyes momentarily, he encouraged himself to review his goal, and was rewarded when moments later a feeling of purpose began to renew in him. His arms began to itch for action, and an intense desire to scale the seemingly indomitable cliff before him replaced his sense of hopelessness.

Opening his eyes, he allowed himself a single, deep breath, then launched himself back into a steady climb. His hands seemed to have no problems finding holds, and his eyes aided in the progress by searching them out ahead of time with razor clarity. As time went on, he began to note which crevices and indents ten feet above would best hold his weight, and to constantly plan his course as he moved. The mountain was usually barren and frosted, so that whenever the incline grew too steep Ra'uf would, in alarm, immediately switch to his pick and proceed cautiously until the ground straightened out again. obstructing tree and bushes were scarce, and only once so far had he been forced to circumnavigate an empty nest.

In fact, the scarcity of Pokemon was beginning to worry Ra'uf. As far as he could tell, the clanking and scratching of his ice pick digging into the mountain was the only sentient sounds for miles. When glancing out into the forest at the base of the mountain, the thick canopy of snow covered trees shrouded all of the life that might be moving underneath, and the similarly white and overcast sky obscured most of his vision. It seemed that all the world had been swallowed by the leagues of white, while his better sense on the subject warned him that thousands of Pokemon were hidden somewhere in the world around him. That he was advancing undisturbed could, at this point, only be contributed to his cliff like surroundings.

Weathered by extreme coastal conditions, the general humidity of the air at that level kept the dirt ground beneath Ra'uf slippery but bare. Ra'uf could already see the faint hints of shifting conditions in the form of occasional patches of snow, and the occasional glance upward had revealed something of a turning point another hundred feet overhead. Preceded by a brief stretch of heavily snow spattered land, a general blanket of white covered the upcoming land.

Ra'uf predicted that it was at this point his climb would become more difficult. Delibird would nest in greater quantities at the more wintry altitudes, and the snow would freeze his unprotected hands as well as handicap his progress. Once traversing the slippery substance, use of the ice pick would become necessary at all times, lest he lose his footing and slide a terribly long ways to a brutal ending. Even if he managed to halt his fall at some point, he would lose valuable ground that precious time and effort would be wasted recovering.

He didn't have time for such blunders, and in all honesty was not attracted to the idea of sliding uncontrollably down a mountainside. Life risking stunts were something Ra'uf had accepted having to chance performing, but he drew the line at dangerous and pointless. Some people thrived off of the adrenaline rush of daring and life threatening ventures, but as such ventures would be the norm of Ra'uf's every day life in the coming weeks, the idea lost something of its splendor. In many ways, daredevil attempts were more like voluntary overwork than sport to Pokemon trainers. In any case, Ra'uf would not need to go out of his way to get his adrenaline pumping.

Muscles starting to strain, Ra'uf felt the first handful of snow meet his hands. The sudden iciness stung them, and he withdrew them quickly, bringing them up to stare at his overturned palms. The cold had frozen them red and raw, and they burned like it was fire, not snow, that had touched them.

Taking a deep breath of the dense mountain air, Ra'uf took a moment to allow his lungs to calm and to praise himself for reaching his current height. He had carried on to this point at a speed he would likely not have a chance for in the following days, and the terrain he had just reached marked the shifting point from untroubled climbing to hazardous grounds. Here, the Delibird would begin to threaten him, and he would need to tread carefully to avoid a vicious and fatal encounter with the species.

Reaching into his pack, Ra'uf brought from the handy but heavy luggage a pair of thick Ski gloves, with which he immediately covered his numb hands. The frosted limbs continued to throb and burn painfully from within the protective material, but instant relief did not concern Ra'uf. The important thing was that his hands would remain insulated while he braved the snow, for frostbite of those particular limbs would bring his journey to an instant and disappointing end. There was no way to climb without hands, no way to toss a Pokeball, and no way to lift the protective plastic casing that covered the remote controls button. His hands had never been more pivotal, nor more endangered, and it would be an entirely poor time to lose them.

Pushing thoughts of demise from his mind, Ra'uf returned to climbing the peak, this time embedding the ice pick into the mountainside at each step. The angle of the mountain had sloped slightly, and the ground had become precariously slippery with the addition of snow, both of which were factors Ra'uf would not dare treat with negligence. It seemed, in his mind, that the extra expense of energy was a preferable loss to life.

Hours passed, in which Ra'uf settled into a steady rhythm composed of the clunking of his pick on frosted ground and the scratching and scraping of fleece against the snow. He was moving again, at a slower progression now, but moving all the same, and as he moved his thoughts drifted to a peaceful appreciation of the still land around him. He had never seen the earth from such a height, nor felt the cool touch of falling snow on his cheek.

The wild had been described to him as dangerous, and all his schooling had stressed the fact. What they had failed to mention was what he realized now, in his solitude; there was beauty in it, too, a raw display of untamed life and nature that fascninated him.

The monotonous repetition of climbing had allowed his thoughts to stray into such romantic avenues, and it was not until the third hour in the new, snowy coated environment that reality steered it back. For only a couple hundred feet away Ra'uf espied the first cluster of what were unmistakably Delibird nests.

Ra'uf stared at them and realized with sudden clarity what he was looking at. Caution was his original and ingrained reaction, that of the part of his being that had been fine tuned by year of tutelage under Mr. Gershom. A second part of his being, however, looked up at the strange formations and felt awed. THIS was his first true encounter with the wild, the first sight of anything Pokemon and therefore dangerous. THIS was his first real obstacle, of the sort that he would spend his life overcoming. THIS was where his skills would be put to the test.

Ra'uf brimmed with excitement and at the thought, at the same time doubt and dread gnawed at his heart. THIS, the emotions whispered, is where you fail. The confidence in him, however, rallied against the negative thoughts, calling forward to the challenge ahead. And whatever doubts he had felt disappeared as he swung his arm up and brought his ice pick down into the ground, some feet higher. He was eager, he realized, eager and ready. Ready for challenges, ready for adventure, ready to feel his heart throb with the thrill of Skittering around certain death. His life could end in the encounters to come, and then it would surely mean nothing, but in just facing that risk his life became glorious and valuable as never before. This was where he was meant to be!, Ra'uf thought, and laughed.

And yet, as Ra'uf reached and progressed through the colony, a strange and disturbing silence assaulted him. Every nest that he could see was empty, and showed signs of decadence found only in places that have long been abandoned. The nests themselves were a wonder, the interior a glossy and smooth frozen surface. Or at least, Ra'uf could tell from the rotting quality of the structure that that was once how it might have appeared. Now, cracks lined the surfaces of the nests, and dirt snow and debris had gathered into a faint layer over the ice that supressed its gleam and reminded Ra'uf of a dusty counter. Whatever life had once upheld the nests was long gone.

Unsettled, Ra'uf emerged from the cluster and continued climbing for some feet, aiming to gain a bit more height. At about thirty feet from the last of the nests, Ra'uf paused to turn and stare over at the display of structures now apparent below him. What revealed itself to him was a scattered field of emptiness and collective decay . The sight proved it to him, his seemingly rediculous suspicion; He was the only living thing on the cliffs. The rest had abandoned them for whatever reason. The idea was chilling, for Pokemon had in innate sixth sense for danger, and such a collective movement was not a positive sign. Something strong or terrible enough to scare away an entire flock of Delibird was present.

Whatever this new creature was, it seemed to Ra'uf that avoiding it would be best. Briefly, he wondered what sort of thing it could be, and it occurred to him then that the only other Pokemon in the area that could fly was the ghost type. So this was a good thing, then. He was getting closer to his goal.

Only thing to do was keep going.

Ra'uf was getting worried, now. It had been another hour since he had passed the nests, and the silence had yet to let up in any way. Along with the overcast sky and the shadow it cast upon the land, it seemed to him as if he was walking in some sort of horror. The Snow had picked up as well, becoming something of a violent stream that battered and agitated him, so that he wondered how he had ever appreciated the annoying substance. The weather was against him, and his mind tormented him with the mystery of the abandoned nests. Connecting the two, it seemed that there were many omens hinting at dreadful things ahead. He could not allow himself to stop, though, and to turn around at this point was not an option.

What worried him the most, however, was the mountain itself. Over the past half and hour, he had expected the snow to thicken with the altitude, and though he was not thrilled with the prospect it was what he had logically anticipated. Instead, the mountain had somehow began to grow bare again, and he was seeing plant life at this height that he had not expected to see again.

The phenomena was certainly not caused by the snow, which had done as it should have and become more troublesome. The problem, then, appeared to be the ground, for upon reaching it the snow melted within seconds. The result was a very damp and muddy ground that Ra'uf had been extremely careful with, but had been even more intrigued by. At one point, he had used the ice pick as a makeshift shovel, digging down into the drier layers below, and he had removed his gloves to feel out the soil quality. Rubbing it between his hands, he had realized that the soil was unnaturally warm.

The discovery had been both puzzling and informative, explaining why the snow was melting upon contact but leaving him to wonder why there was warm soil so far above ground. Volcanic activity? It was the only explanation, and yet it seemed odd to only see the first signs of a volcano at the elevation he was now. Whatever was happening to the landscape around him, it was unusual to the extreme, and the fact unsettled him. He knew how to deal with scenarios that were predictable, but to deal with the unexpected required experience. He was in over his head, if anything was really out of place.

When night began to fall, Ra'uf realized that there was a very great deal out of place. The cliffs were supposed to have evened out at this point, to have flattened into something of a tundra in which he could make Camp. Instead, the mountain had remained as inclined as always, and Ra'uf saw no signs in the distance that hinted of the appropriate shift.

The winds had turned harsh at some point, and wherever on his face it could reach him he had become numb with cold. The skies had darkened considerably, so that the landscape was a mix of purple and black disturbed by the great ocean of white flecks that drifted down from the sky. It was strange, in a way, to progress upwards when all the world around you was falling in the opposite direction. Ra'uf felt somewhat like he was going against traffic. But that was a senseless thought, and he had a pressing concern to deal with now. Ra'uf pushed it from his mind and focused.

What could he do? He needed shelter, that much was certain. In his back pack was a large tarp and some rope, so it would not be hard to construct a roof. What good was a roof, however, when the real danger was him turning in his sleep, gaining momentum, and then rocketing down the mountain. He needed flat ground, and the mountain would not provide it.

Well, the ground was not frozen, so digging was something of an option. More than something, actually, and definitively more plausible than to continue traveling. His limbs ached terribly from exhaustion, so much so that the numbing cold had become something of a blessing. To his face, however, the cold was nothing but agony. No – he had depleted himself for the day. It was time now to rest, and to rest called for shelter.

Straining his muscles, Ra'uf groaned to himself as he worked, scratching at the mountain with his ice pick at first but finding the freshly unearthed soil easy enough to remove with his hands. His body never ceased to remind him that it was tired and spent, the result of inconsiderately forcing it up a mountain. The discomforts encouraged him to work faster, and as he burrowed further into the mountain it occurred to him to angle the shelter somewhat downward, so that he was in something of a hole rather than a plane. The configuration would keep him more secure.

When he had finished digging, he eagerly nailed the tarp overhead using several sticks as nailes and then climbed under the creation. Cramped and small was the essence of the shelter, but blessed relief described it best in Ra'ufs opinion. Climbing into his sleeping bag, his heavy backpack acted as a pillow, and within minutes he had fallen asleep.

Day the second

Ra'uf woke with a start to find the roof mere inches from his face. Some time in the night, apparently, the build up of snow had forced it downwards. It was lucky, then, that he had woken up when he had, for given another couple of inches the weight may have displaced the pikes holding it into the ground. With the wind as strong as it was, the unattached item would have floated away, and then he would truly have problems.

Pushing the fallen surface away from the tip of his nose, Ra'uf sleepily went through the difficult task of dressing for the day with one hand raised above his head. Once finished with the only slightly less difficult task of packing his equipment, he let his arm fall, noting with mild interest that the roof fell with it. Sitting down cross legged, the tip of his head became the new pillar which supported the plastic ceiling, and he relaxed for a moment in that position.

He had no food. This was a disturbing and troublesome fact, and his stomach complained as loudly about it as his head. He had planned, at this point, to be scrounging for nuts in some sort of Boreal sanctuary, with only the the easily navigable threat of Pokemon to threaten him. Instead, he was several hundred feet above ground, trapped still on a steep incline, and entirely without sustenance. And while it was fortunate that the snow melted upon touching the ground, it also prevented him from gathering it together for drinking water.

Many argued that snow water was unsanitary, but recently fallen snow, as he would encounter in the mountains, was less dangerous. Considering the fact that he would now be required to literally pluck it from the sky, the snow would be about as clean as possible, so Ra'uf was not worried about that. That meant that he had water, but not food. That was O.K, but unfortunate. The human body could go up to two weeks without food, but it wouldn't take more than two days for hunger to become a serious discomfort. The best he could hope for was that the forest he had thought to find would reveal itself further up the mountain. Perhaps he had simply been going slower than he'd thought.

That brought up another issue. What was he going to do? Where was he going to go? Should he circle the mountain? To plow onward towards the summit would be dangerous, but what else was there to do that he could risk? He had only six days remaining, now, and all of that time needed to be spent as efficiently as possible. The summit was very far off, but it was his ultimate goal, and he could not afford to be diverted from it.

So it was decided, then. He would continue up, and hope for the best. Delibird had at some point survived on these cliffs, and he had spotted certain plants growing at times, so perhaps there was something that could sustain him, thought it seemed very much unlikely. Either way, his destination was upwards, and that was where he would go. If this terrible trial, which had first seemed a test of his knowledge, would now become a test of endurance, than so be it. The prize was the same either way, and Ra'uf wanted a Misdreavus and the new life as a trainer that came with it more than anything else at this point.

Standing up caused the tarp to go from caved in to peaking upwards, sending snow flying off of its surface. The sudden loss of weight felt good on his head, but didn't really matter much in the long run, as he removed himself from under it seconds later anyways. Packing up the tarp as well and stuffing it into his backpack, Ra'uf shouldered his equipment and began climbing, renewing his effort to scale the mountain.

That day proved as silent and uneventful as the last, which meant very near as unsettling. It seemed to Ra'uf that at any second now the ground should flatten out or that some angry Delibird should leap at him from the sky, cawing murderously. And yet, every time he looked up into the distance, he saw nothing but the same repetitious incline as was visible only feet in front of him, and every time he glanced over his shoulder at the sky he saw nothing but the now familiar traffic of falling snow. It amazed him, at this point, the sheer vastness of the snowfall. It seemed an entire ocean of it was falling from the sky, and that like a real ocean it swayed with tides.

Low tide was the peaceful moments when no wind blew and silence reigned, so that the snow fell almost straight. High tide was when the winds roared into action, and whipped the snow chaotically about the sky, reminisce in his mind to the waves of the deep sea storms that he had read about. Thrashing and fierce as the weather that drove them. He enjoyed watching the snow, and the "shifts in tide" were equally amusing and wondrous to him. The fresh night of sleep, apparently, had restored his ability to appreciate the scenery.

On the other hand, perhaps the alternative was just an even less pleasant thought. When not focused on the weather, he found his attention affixed to the never diminishing miles of mountain before him. It amazed him how consistent it was, never seeming to become noticeably steeper or shallower, and as far as his eye could see the strange anomaly of the melting snow was present. He had no doubts in his mind, now, that the Sea Jutting Peak was in fact a volcano.

No one had ever recorded the fact, but Ra'uf was not surprised by his researches faultiness. One of the first things Mr. Gershom had stressed was the complete ignorance of humans, of how they had gone from top of the food chain and omniscient to huddling pinpricks of their former grandeur, who could now only wonder at was happening in their world. He had even described satellites to him once. Fantastical devices that orbited the planet and connected the entire world via the internet and other such resources. Mr. Gershom had then shared how the satellites had been smashed from space by Rayquazas, and how now a very tall tower off the Aomori coast sent the radio signals that provided internet and telephone connections. The signal length was sufficient for Tohoku, but ended there. Technology died at the countries borders, as far as Ra'uf was aware.

Those thoughts were sad, in a way, to think of how humans had declined so dramatically, and though he enjoyed being able to imagine the glory of humans when they were still at their fullest, it offered bitter contrast when compared to how things were now. Whenever he thought of the world before Pokemon, he ended up in a depression that lasted for hours. They had lost so much, the entire Human race, and become so poor they no longer even understood the scope of their loss. The world was in a slump. Hopefully, one day, it would get out of it.

Then again, Pokemon were not all bad. That was his theory, at least, and though there was nothing to prove it was something that to him was so true that evidence was not required. It was like saying the sky was up. That was not to say he had no proof on the matter. He had seen it, once, all those years ago, been present for the strange circumstance that reinforced his beliefs. It was nothing but a memory now, but it was all that he needed to be assured. Assured, that Pokemon were good at heart, and that he would capture a Misdreavus and never regret the decision.

-- -- --

Near dusk of the second day, the mountain changed.